title: Unknown
by DemonHunter52
Summary: Infinite Stratos. A machine created by Tabane Shinono to help Humanity fight against the Honkai and can be piloted only by Females. What will happen if a Male capable of piloting the said machine would show up.
1. The Getaway

I am going to make this short. I suck at it, but since Honkai Impact archive is not too big I decided to drop something of my own. Feel free to tell me what or where did I go wrong and stuff so that I can improve next time. With that, hope you enjoy this good for nothing X-fic I tried to wrote.

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It was an average day in city of Tokyo. Oddly enough, there weren't any vehicles running around nor any people can be spotted on the streets. Well, alive people anyway. Streets are filled with zombies walking around, looking for their next victim. What caused half of the Tokyo's population to turn into mindless creature was a phenomenon commonly known as Honkai irruption. A large amount of Honkai particles exploded in the middle of Tokyo, turning people with low Honkai resistance into walking corpses and those who survived it weren't able to survive the oncoming hoard of zombies. In the middle of this chaos a group of 3 individual is making their way through countless zombies in order to get out of the infested area.

"Move aside!" shouted a young guy with black hair and brown eyes to the hoard of zombies blocking their path. He was wearing a black high school uniform and had some sort of wristband on his right hand.

"They are already dead! What's the point in shouting at them?!" said a young girl with blue eyes and long silver hair done in braded twin tails, holding 2 revolvers (?). Her attire consisted of a white sailor top while the bottom was a brown mini skirt.

Behind them was another girl with long black hair that reached down to her waist even with a high ponytail held in place with a purple ribbon. She was wearing a black sailor uniform with a really short skirt and black thigh high stoking, holding a pump-action shot gun.

Both girls shoot through the zombies to make for them to escape.

A loud crash sound came from behind them. Turning around, they saw a large beast that looked like a giant fusion of a caterpillar and a snail. It was white in color with pink strips running between the gaps of what seems to be armor plating.

"Great, just what we need!" said the guy, clearly frustrated by all this. "Leave it to us." said the black haired girl while she and the other girl pointed their guns at the beast. What they didn't expect was that the armor it had was too tick for their bullets to penetrate.

The beast attacked with its arms, the guy was fast enough to pull both the girls out of the way just in time as its paw destroyed the spot they were standing just a while earlier. "Our weapons aren't affecting it!" said the black haired girl. "Can't you do something?!" asked the white haired girl to the guy as they ran to make some distance between the beast and themselves.

"I don't think this IS can hold on against that thing. Let alone KILL it." responded the guy. "There is no better time to test it out. Do it!" said the silver haired girl. The guy stopped and got into a fighting stance. A large katana materializes in his hand as he prepares himself to face off against that beast. The beast charges forward, ready to destroy anything in his way. Thick armor like skin made contact with katana, a large shockwave knocked the guy and the girls back and send the beast tumbling back.

Regaining their composer, the group saw that the beast is also getting up. Meanwhile, a young girl was seeing this from the roof top of a nearby building. "Target locked. Proceeding to eliminate the target." said the girl as she jumped off from building, going straight for the beast. "Project Bunny 19C activate!" said the girl, materializing a robot with a face that can scare the kids and haunt them at night. It had a spear on its left arm while a shield on its right arm.

"Bronya!" two girls exclaimed upon seeing the girl with the robot. The girl, named Bronya, landed on top of the beast and stabbed it with the spear of her robot, killing it instantly.

Both girls rushed to Bronya, while she got down from the disintegrating body of fallen beast, dematerializing the robot. "Thanks for saving us, Bronya. You showed up at the right time!" said the black haired girl while hugging Bronya. "Why thanking her?! She was waiting for us to be killed! She just came to steal the spot light!" the white haired girl said, accusingly. Both boy and black haired girl just sweat dropped on that.

"Now now, Kiana. You shouldn't say that. She just saved our lives. Wouldn't you agree Orimura-san?" the black haired girl asked the guy, who turns out to be Ichika Orimura.

"Raiden-san is right. And besides, you had any better ideas other than running from it forever, Kaslana-san?" Ichika said to Kiana. "Well…um…" Kiana wasn't able to retaliate to what Ichika said.

Another loud crash was heard in distance. "We should get away from here as soon as possible." Ichika said, prompting others to get moving. Everyone nodded and continued their journey through the destroyed city of Tokyo.

To Be Continued…Maybe


	2. The Herrscher's Wrath

Somewhere in Kyoto

On top of a skyscraper, a woman with long red hair was standing. "What a beautiful scenery" said the woman, looking down on night view from the rooftop balcony. Her hair was pinned to the side by a golden pin while she was wearing a red formal dress.

"No matter how beautiful the scenery is, It looks dull when compare to you Miss Himeko." A man says as he approaches Himeko. "How sweet of you." Himeko replied to the man in front of her. The man pulls her close "You are just too stunning…" the man says while pulling her even closer.

Both of them were interrupted by a blinding light from a large aerial battleship. "What the hell is happening?!" the man exclaimed, visibly shocked at the sudden appearance of the ship in front of them. Himeko on the other hand seemed really pissed. "I apologize, it seems like our date has come to an end now." Himeko said, confusing the man even further before knocking him out with a punch in the gut. "Miss Himeko…" were the last words the man was able to blurt out before passing out.

The ship hovered close to the building and a hanger on its side open and extended to make a platform between ship and building. A group of women were waiting for Himeko at the entrance of the ship. One of them moved forward and placed a long brown military coat over Himeko's shoulder, she also became the victim of Himeko's wrath. "Didn't I mention that I don't want any kind of disturbance during my date?!"

"Wasting your time with a wealthy kid is your definition of a date? I expected better than that from you, Himeko." The woman said, clearly trying to piss of Himeko even further. "You have a death wish, Gentiana?" Himeko said to Gentiana. "Jokes aside, HQ sent an emergency notice on a Honkai breakout in Tokyo. The level of destruction is similar to _THAT INCIDENT _14 years ago."

Upon hearing about the incident from 14 years ago, Himeko perked up with excitement. "Then what are we doing here. All crew aboard Hyperion. Head to the destination, Tokyo." Gentiana looked at Himeko with worry. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard, Himeko. And besides, I already sent one of my boys to scout her out at the moment." Himeko just gave a confident smirk. "I am not that weak you know. And besides, it's the 3rd Herrscher we are talking about. She just awakened so I doubt she will be much of a trouble to handle. Those kids are strong but they can't handle Herrscher, let alone fight her one on one."

Meanwhile in Tokyo

After running for like an hour or so, the group made their way into an apartment building to rest before moving out again.

Mei was sitting on the balcony window with her shotgun lying next to her. Bronya was sleeping on Mei's lap, using it as a lap pillow. Ichika was sitting on the bed trying to get in contact with outside world to no avail. Kiana was sitting on floor, beside to the group, a guy was looking at the group from the rooftop of a nearby build while staying hidden.

Kiana suddenly moved towards Mei and Bronya. "How dare you sleep on Mei's lap, you brat!" Kiana said while poking Bronya on the cheek.

"Stop it, Kiana. She deserves get some sleep after all that happened today." Mei said trying to stop Kiana. "But she can sleep on bed too you know! I want to sleep on Mei's lap!" Ichika just sweatdropped on what Kiana just said while Mei just gave a wry smile.

Ichika thought back on what Chifuyu once said to him, "Girls having intimate relationship with each other is becoming pretty common these days." 'So this is what you meant huh Chifuyu-nee.' Ichika thought to himself before trying to sleep as well.

The guy just kept his watch from a far and smiled at the interactions of the group. "Smiling and laughing at a time, these guys are different." Lying down, he stared off into the distance "How this world would have been if Honkai never existed?" He asked no one in particular. Closing his eyes, he decided to get some sleep as well.

But before anyone could relax, a loud tremor caught everyone's attention just before a giant blade destroyed the building where the group was hiding in.

The blade barely missed the group before cleaving the building in half. A giant humanoid looking Honkai beast with a double edge sword for its left arm and a spear for its right arm was staring at the group with its lone eye like a Cyclops.

The beast reeled its spear arm back to attack. Bronya quickly materialized her Project Bunny and met the attack head-on. While Bronya was locking the beast in a dual, Ichika deployed his IS and flew towards its head. Beast saw Ichika coming and threw Bronya towards Ichika, sending both of them tumbling and crashing into nearby building.

"Bronya! Orimura-san!" Mei exclaimed while running towards Ichika and Bronya. But she forgot that the beast was still behind her and was about to attack with its dual edge sword. By the time she noticed it, it was too late. "First Bronya, and now Ichika. I am getting really jealous here, you know" Kiana said as she pushed Mei away, just as the blade came down and slashed Kiana from her left shoulder to her waist.

Mei fell on the ground and Kiana's limb body landed on top of her. "No… Kiana! Answer me!" Mei tried calling out to Kiana. Ichika got out of the building he and Bronya crashed into. Only to see the beast slamming its sword on Mei and Kiana. He was helpless to do anything since the IS he had was low on shield points as well.

When the dust settled downed he was surprised to see that blade was stopped by a purple shield. Lightning starts to dance around. Gentle look on Mei'sface was gone and was replaced by a look of pure rage. Her eyes were like a predator, ready to kill anything in front of her. A strange mark appeared on her waist. Soon the lightning formed wings like structure around Mei's left shoulder.

The beast took a kneeling position as if a knight in bowing down to its king. Mei started to float while holding Kiana in a tight embrace. A giant orb of lightning stared to form above the beast.

"Disappear now, Scumbag!" Mei's voice was cold and had a resonating effect with it. The orb of lightning came down from the sky and struck the beast, evaporating it from existence. The large concentration of Honkai energy attracted every Honkai beast in the city. But Honkai beasts were not the only thing attracted by the pillar of Honkai energy.

Hyperion can be seen approaching towards the city. "Abnormal reaction detected at the location of the Breakout!" said one of the operator of the large aerial battleship known as Hyperion. "Honkai energy levels increasing rapidly! Honkai beast seems to be attracted towards it!" another operator said.

"Seems like we've hit the Jackpot." Himeko said. "Major Himeko, We still have time to retreat-" Gentiana suggested but immediately got shot down.

"Are you kidding me?!" Himeko yelled at her friend. "I don't know the meaning of word 'Retreat'." Himeko said with a confident smirk. "All vessels, this is a level 1 Security Alert! Prepare for combat. This might be the toughest battle we ever had."

Back to the group, Ichika was getting Bronya out of the rubble, worried about Mei and Kiana. "Let's go get them and get out of here." Ichika said after getting Bronya out."

"The Bronya advised not to get involved with Subject Mei right now" Bronya said, stopping Ichika in his track.

"She is right you know" the voice came from behind them. Both of them turned around to see a guy with spiky brown hair wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath it and burgundy jeans. "I can tell, she is not the same girl who was with you a while ago." Ichika materialized his sword and got ready to attack if it comes down to it, while Bronya also materialized her Project Bunny.

"Woah! Easy there, I am not here to fight you." Said the guy, keeping his arms up in the air, try to reduce the hostility between them. "State your name" was Bronya's response. "The name's James. I am a Runner from Schicksal, sent here to search and keep an eye on 3rd Herrscher. But found something more than just the 3rd Herrscher." James said, looking at Ichika. Ichika knowing what he means dematerialized his sword.

The sound of Hyperion's engine caught the group's attention. "They are already here?" said James, surprised at how quickly his superiors got there.

(Back when the Templar attacked the group)

"What is a Storm Templar of all things doing here!?" James groaned. Reaching up to his left wrist, he contacted to his superiors through a Black wrist band. [What's the status, James?] Gentiana's voice was heard from the other end of the receiver.

"Not too good to the honest. A Storm Templar just attacked the group I was keeping an eye on. I suspect one of them is the 3rd Herrscher. Asking permission to engage the enemy." James said. [How high is the threat level?]

Himeko interrupted the conversation. "It's close to an Emperor-class." [Then don't engage]

"What?" James said, not sure if he heard it right. [You alone cannot take out an Emperor-class beast, stand down. We don't want unnecessary casualties] came Himeko's reply. "Yes ma'am" was James's reply before the transmission was ended.

Upon seeing Ichika and Bronya getting thrown into the building, James decided to go and help. But was too late as he saw blade of the beast slash on Kiana's back. As the beast raised its blade, James took out his gun and deployed 4 flying Bits but was stopped upon seeing all the lightning crackling around Mei, further confirming his suspicion. "So she is the 3rd Herrscher" James said before jumping off to meet with Ichika and Bronya.

After disintegrating the Beast, Mei(?) was hovering in air while still holding wounded Kiana. "Getting injured while protecting that coward, how unsightly!" Mei(?) said while looking down on Kiana. "Wake the hell up now, I'm not gonna allow you to die such an easy death. I'm the only one who can take your life." Mei(?) said as the battleship Hyperion came to a halt above her.

(Inside the Bridge of Hyperion)

"So this chick is the 3rd Herrscher?" said Himeko, looking at the large Holographic image of 3rd Herrscher in front of her. "I thought it'd be something terrifying, like something full of tentacles and slime." Gentiana sweatdropped on her friend's comment, "Your imagination really runs wild when you're hungry." "Then don't disturb my date!"

"Activate all turrets! Begin suppressive warfare!" upon Himeko's command, every weaponry on ship sprung to life. Gatling guns and side mounted Rail cannons all aimed at Mei(?).

Even in the face of danger Mei(?) just looked more pissed than before."Annoying Insects! How dare you look down on a 'God'!" Mei(?) charged a large amount of Honkai energy and fired at Hyperion. Expanding energy took out all the Honkai beasts gathered around her.

"All defensive force fields at maximum!" Gentiana commanded, seeing the sudden spike in Honkai energy levels. Jolts of lightning struck the ship's force field, failing to penetrate it. "Disappear" all the lightning concentrated on one spot and broke through the defensive force field.

A large portion of the deck was destroyed and was on fire. "External armor heavily is damaged!" "Defensive force field is offline and is not working!" "Output down by 40%!" the bridge was in a chaos. Everyone were frantically trying their best to bring all the systems back to normal. "We can't handle another attack at this rate." Gentiana stated.

"Guess there is no other way out of this then. Open 5th and 6th nuclear furnace and maintain the output!Switch ship's power to standby mode! Lower the ship to Herrscher's position on my command!"Himeko ordered, leaving the command bridge. "Wait, don't tell me that you're planning to use that!?" Gentiana asked, clearly knowing what her friend is thinking.

"No time to think of another way out of this." Himeko replied as she kept on going to the hanger deck of the ship. "But the HQ's orders are to capture the Herrscher alive…"

"It's too late to say that now!" Gentiana was unable to stop Himeko from facing the Herrscher. "You are always like this Miss Himeko." Gentiana dejectedly said, causing Himeko to stop and look back at her friend. "You always put your life on the line without thinking of what will happen." Himeko got close to Gentiana and flicked her on the forehead.

"You worry about others more than yourself, you know that?" Himeko said while giving a soft smile before turning around and walking away. "But what if you die fighting her!?" Gentiana shouted. "Don't they say, 'Sacrifice one to save a hundred'? If my death can save someone's life then I'll happily give up my life." Himeko replied, silencing Gentiana completely. "Also, I'm temporarily leaving the ship in your command." Himeko said as she started to undress herself as she reached the hanger.

Meanwhile Ichika and the others got away from the fight on Gentiana's command and are now in their flight units. Ichika in his IS and James was in a black unknown flight unit while Bronya was on Ichika's shoulder. "You think it's ok to just sit around and do nothing?" Ichika voiced out his opinion.

"If we try to help them then we'll just get in their way. Knowing how Schicksal works, they will try to capture her alive. Unless Miss Himeko is pissed and decides to finish her off instead." James bluntly stated.

Back at the ship, Himeko was standing on the deck wearing a black and red skintight suit that left very little to the imagination with red armor covering her arms and shoulder. A cable was attached at the back of her armor and a huge sword was in her hand. "You actually dare fight me, you pathetic insect!" Mei(?) said as she prepared another attack. "Turn to ashes before me." With that, Mei(?) launched a large beam of lightning towards Himeko.

"Sorry but I have no intention of dying, not before I find myself a good man." Himeko said before starting up the suit and blocking the attack. Himeko cut through the attack with her sword, splitting it in half. 'Warning! Nuclear reactor overheated! Force shutdown commencing in 10 seconds!' came the voice of ship's alarm system. "Shut that damn thing up and don't shutdown the reactor!" Himeko shouted over the comms.

"I must praise you for withstanding this long. But I've grown bored of playing with you, so please disappear!" Mei(?) said with a devious grin. But before she could finish Himeko, Kiana stopped her. "Hmph, already awake Princess? I'm surprised that you are still alive." Mei(?) turned her attention towards Kiana, "Oh well, let me cleanup all these trash first then I'll treat your wounds. After all, you aren't allowed to die without my permission."

Mei(?) again focused her attention on Himeko, but was again stopped as Kiana held on to her wings.

"What do you think you are doing? A mere human dare try to tear off the wings of Herrscher?" Kiana just tightened her grip on the wings. "You are not Mei." Kiana's hand started bleeding but she didn't let go of Mei(?)'s wings. Soon cracks started to form on Mei(?)'s wings, shocking her. "What?! Impossible! How could a mere human destroy the wings of a Herrscher!" "You are just a faker! Give me back… My Mei!"

Kiana finally ripped off Mei(?)'s wings turning her back to normal as the mark on her waist disappeared.

Himeko collapsed from exhaustion looking up to see with the girls still in her wings, both Mei and Kiana started to fall towards the ground. "Ichika! Get Kiana!" James shouted as he flew past Mei and caught her mid fall. Ichika caught Kiana and both brought the girls back to Hyperion.

"That's the prototype HO229 flight unit. So that must be him." Himeko said looking at James's flight unit. Gentiana along with a group of medics and armed shoulders rushed to help Himeko and capture the Herrscher. "Can you stand, Himeko?" Gentiana offered Himeko a hand.

Ichika and James laid Kiana and Mei down for medics to check while they got out of their units. Bronya climbed down from Ichika's shoulder as he dematerialized his IS. Shocking everyone in by the fact that a male was piloting the machine said to be only be used by females. James just sighed as his unit just opened up and he walked out of it. "This kind of reaction is nothing to be surprised off. After all, you are the world's first male IS pilot." James said trying to cheer Ichika.

"James" upon hearing his name being called, James stiffened up. Turning around he came face-to-face with Gentiana, who seemed like she is about to pop a vain. "Care to explain why didn't you mentioned anything about a male IS pilot being with you?" Gentiana said with a overly sweet smile.

"Well…umm…you see I…" James was at a loss for word. "I want a written report on everything that happened on my desk by tomorrow at 0800" Gentiana said and turned to Ichika. "And you are hereby under the custody for further interrogation." Both Ichika and James looked at each other and slumped down at their luck.

An hour later at St. Freya academy

Hyperion landed at the port of St. Freya along with Gentiana and both boys came out."I heard what happened Himeko."Chifuyu Orimura was waiting for them at the docks. "Principal Theresa wants to talk to you for your stupidity of fighting the Herrscher.""That can wait for a while. We got more pressing matters to deal with." Chifuyu raised an eyebrow on that "and what are those 'pressing matters' you speak of?"

"How about the first Male IS Pilot?"Chifuyu wasn't sure if she heard right and could only blurt out "what?" "We came across a guy who was piloting an IS. We still don't know how but we took him into custody." Himeko said knowing full well that it will be Chifuyu's job to interrogate the first IS pilot. "Now I see why you look so beaten up." Chifuyu said while massaging her forehead. "So where is he now?"

"He is inside the ship right now. I need to talk to that Herrscher chick once she wakes up."Himeko said before walking past Chifuyu. "Did I heard that right? A male IS pilot?" Tatenashi Sarashiki said in her playful voice. "This will bebig news if this gets out!"Monica D. Rose, the school newspaper club member and blogger said standing besides Tatenashi.

"Why are you here, Miss Rose?" Chifuyu said, not looking at 2 girls beside her. "I am here to interview James about this solo mission of his. Where is he though?" Monica said, looking around for the said Runner."I just saw him leaving towards the dorm."Tatenashi pointed towards the dormitory with her fan. Before either of them could say another word, Monica ran off to find James.

"So Miss Orimura, what are we going to do with this so-called MALE Pilot?" Tatenashi asked walking up to Chifuyu. "This is an international news. We can not just hide it, but we can't make it public either. For now, don't let the personal information out. We'll make that announcement once we are certain that he really is the first male IS pilot." Chifuyu said, looking at Hyperion. "This interrogation is not my thing." Chifuyu said rubbing her temple.

Inside Hyperion

Ichika was sitting in the makeshift interrogation room. With nothing to do, he started beating the table with a rhythm in his head. The door opened up and much to his surprise and the interrogator it was Chifuyu who walked in.

"Long time no see, Chifuyu-nee" Ichika greeted his sister after a good pause. Chifuyu snapped back to reality. "What's the meaning of this, Ichika?" "Where should I start? I was going for my entrance exam but I got lost in the way. Then as you know, the Honkai Energy from the Eruption turned most people into Zombies." Chifuyu took the seat in front Ichika. "I was able to get away in time, only to be locked up in a room with this thing. I somehow activated it and flew out of the academy."Chifuyu listened to Ichika's story with every bit of attention.

"Ok. So that doesn't explain how you can pilot an IS. We'll have to do some more tests to see if you can actually pilot an IS or it was just a fluke"Chifuyu said after listening to all the details. "Now tell me how did you come in contact with the 3rd Herrscher?" Chifuyu asked curious to know how her brother found the 3rd Herrscher.

"That's funny. Cause I didn't knew that Mei-san is the 3rd Herrscher." That got Chifuyu by surprise because every IS are equipped with Honkai Energy sensors. "I just helped the girls fight a few Honkai beasts and decided to stick together till we make it out that hellhole."

Chifuyu sat there thinking of what should be the most reasonable thing to do. "Ichika, stay here for a while until we make sure that you truly are the first male pilot." Chifuyu said before getting up and leave the room.

Back in dorms

The news of the First male IS pilot spread like wildfire thanks to Monica. James, on the other hand, was sitting in his room and didn't bother with everything happening around him until "I heard that you were the one who found _him_" came the voice of Mike Adams, James's teammate and 2nd in command of the team.

"Does it matter. He was just a bonus with the Herrscher." James replied without looking at his teammate. "It's actually a good thing that we found him before the Overseer or AE could know about him."

"Just how long you think it will take for them to try and use him?" Mike asked James. "Knowing Otto, He won't make a move for a while but we can't be certain. People call him Crazy for a reason after all." James replied. 'If he's enrolled in St. Freya Academy then I'll have to keep an eye on him' James made a mental note.

To be continued...

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**A/N: I'll be honest. I still don't feel satisfied with this chapter. I has hoping to bring out a bit more about runners but I felt like that's just filler. As for the runners, James is the only one who is an OC. Other runners are from, well that will be for later. With that I'll be leaving it to you guys. Leave a Review if feel like pointing out somethings I messed up**


	3. Welcome to St Freya Academy

Ichika still had sleep in his eyes when he walked to the monorail connecting mainland and St. Freya Academy. It had been a month since the Honkai outbreak in Tokyo and he becoming the first male IS pilot. After it was confirmed that he can pilot the IS, he was told to keep a low profile until he is enrolled into St. Freya Academy. Since his identity wasn't revealed to the people outside of Schicksal, he was able to past the past month at his home in tranquility.

When he arrived at the monorail, he was surprised that there was someone waiting for him. "Hey there, you must be Ichika Orimura." said a tall guy with short black hair with a green strand of hair on his left side. He was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck shirt under a white overcoat and grey cargo pants; a skull scarf was wrapped around his neck. "My name's Mike Adams. Miss Orimura and Principal asked me to get you." Mike said and extending his right hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Mike-san; I am Ichika Orimura, but you already know that." Ichika said as he shook hands. "But why did Chifuyu-nee sent you? I am not a kid who would get lost." Ichika complained as he and Mike started walking towards the monorail. "I am more of a bodyguard than a caretaker right now." Mike said as they walked up to the monorail. "People without authorization can't enter St. Freya and there are those feminists who think that St. Freya is only for girls."

After arriving at St. Freya Academy, Mike told Ichika to meet with Principal first and decided to show him the way. Upon reaching the Principal's office, Mike told Ichika to not laugh at what he was about to see before knocking on the door. "Come in" came the voice of a young girl which can be mistaken as a child's voice. Upon entering the room, Ichika noticed that there was no one else aside from him and Mike. "Principal Theresa, we're here as you asked." Mike said and the chair on the other side of the Principal's desk moved. A small girl, around 9 years old, was sitting on it. She had silver hair that reach past her shoulder and was tied in a short ponytail and hanging from her left side.

"Is she Principal's daughter or something?" Ichika asked; confused as to who this kid is. A visible tick mark appeared on the girl's forehead. "Who are you calling a kid?! I am the principal of St. Freya Academy and the person in charge of Schicksal Far East Branch, Theresa Apocalypse." Ichika just stood there, not knowing what to say. "All that aside; welcome to St. Freya Academy, Ichika Orimura. You will be spending the next 3 years here studying how to pilot an IS and help humanity fight against Honkai alongside your fellow Valkyries and Runners." Theresa said before looking at Mike. "Adam-kun, please escort him to his class please." "Yes ma'am. Come on Ichika, let's go." Mike gestured Ichika to follow him out of the room.

Once they were outside Ichika turned to Mike to ask the question that's been bothering him from the moment he saw Theresa. "Is she really the Principal?" Ichika asked. "Yeah, she is. She isn't that formal most of the time. Guess she wanted to act like a Principal for once." Mike said as they continued walking.

"This is your class." Mike said standing in front of the door to Class 1-1. "I should be leaving now. Your homeroom teacher will tell you what to do after the classes are over." With that, Mike left Ichika.

(A few moments later)

"This is way more intense than I thought." Ichika said to himself as he was center of attention of every girl in his class. That is everyone in his class. Door to the class opened and young woman wearing a yellow suit walked in. "Congratulations for making it into the St. Freya Academy. I am your first year sub-Homeroom teacher, Maya Yamada." Maya said while a holographic display showed her name. Ichika looked up and saw a woman in her early 20's. She was short, busty and had green hair.

"As you all know, St. Freya is the only educational institute that teaches the young generation how to pilot the machine known as Infinite Stratos. With that out of the way, let's get on to self-introductions." As the introductions went on, Ichika looks to his side and noticed a familiar face on his left. "Isn't that Houki?" Ichika said to himself. "Next, Ichika Orimura." "Yes ma'am. I am Ichika Orimura, an average Japanese male with nothing special aside from the fact that I can pilot an IS." Ichika stood up and introduced himself.

As if on cue, the door to the class opened and Chifuyu Orimura walked in wearing her signature black business suit. "Chifuyu-nee!?" Ichika was sure he lost more than 5000 brain cells from Chifuyu's hit. "You will refer to me as Orimura-sensei." Chifuyu said. It took Ichika a while to realize that there was someone else standing next to Maya.

"Yo" James said, giving a 2 finger salute to Ichika. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Ichika shouted, earning him a second hit from Chifuyu. "Is that the way you talk to your instructor?" Chifuyu said before turning to class. "Alright everyone, my name is Chifuyu Orimura. I'm going to be your homeroom teacher for the first year. I'm going to train you on how to use IS in this one year." Chifuyu said while James closed his ears for what's to come.

"KYAAA—! It's Chifuyu-sama, it's the real Chifuyu-sama herself!"

One of the girls said.

"I've always been your fan!"

"I'm so happy to be taught by Chifuyu-sama!"

"I'll gladly die for Chifuyu-sama!"

"Seriously, did they put all the idiots in my class again this year." James was enjoying Chifuyu's growing headache from the amount of fan girls in her class as always. Ichika, on the other hand, was gritting his teeth as it felt like his eardrums were busted from the screaming of girls. Ichika looked at James who was prepared for this beforehand and was grinning. 'Damn you' Ichika internally cursed James for not warning him.

"You got anything else to say, Orimura?" "Nope, nothing at all" Ichika said and Chifuyu walked back to the black board. "I should introduce myself as well. My name is James Nivans. I'll be your instructor to help you work as a team with Valkyries and Runners. If there's anything to ask then ask right now." James said and a girl raised her hand. "Yes! What is it?" James said, pointing to the girl. "What's a Runner?" Maya flinched at the bluntness of the question while James just chuckled. "Not like I didn't see that one coming. We are like a back-up unit for Valkyries and Pilots. We also work independently and take out Honkai Beasts ourselves so that Valkyries and Pilots can focus on more serious matters."

Another girl raised her hand. "Go on." "You said you fight Honkai Beasts, so what sort of weapons do you use?" the girl asked and James, for once, was impressed.

"You see this bracelet?" James showed a silver bracelet on his left hand. "Every runner wears this as this holds their designated weapon and combat gears. Emphasis on Designated. We specialize in long to mid range combat. That should give you the idea." James said and girl fell silent.

"We don't have the entire day so I'll answer one last question if there is any." Almost the entire class raised their hand.

"If you are curious about my personal life, please put your hands down." Half of the girls dropped their hands.

"If you want to know what kind of girls I am in to, then drop your hand." Another few hands dropped.

"If you are curious about my relationship with Ms. Yamada or Ms. Orimura, then get your mind out of the gutter." With that everyone dropped their hands.

"Wasn't that hard, was it?"

After class, Maya and Chifuyu walked out the door and James walked up to Ichika. "You look exhausted. Having a hard time already?" James said standing next to Ichika. "You are one to talk. You could have told me about it. My ears are still hurting from all that screaming." Ichika said. "I felt that pain for 2 years. I was looking forward to see how you handle it." James said while grinning. "Not cool, man. Not cool" Ichika said, before noticing Houki walking towards them.

"Do you have a minute?" Houki asked Ichika. "Oh hey Houki." Ichika replied, catching the ponytailed girl off guard. "Can we talk somewhere private?" Houki said, glaring at James. James got the message and walked away. "Go to the rooftop. But get back when the bell rings." James said and let the two walked out the door. When the two left the class, James walked out of the class as well. "So how's it going this time?" Mike said waiting for him outside. "The usual. Filled with whackjobs this time as well." James replied, before both walked away.

The bell rang and everyone went back to their seat. Maya and Chifuyu entered the class but James was nowhere to be seen. "Yamada-sensei? Where is James-san?" before he could react, Chifuyu slammed his head on the table. "Did the instructions on how to address your instructor didn't go through your thick skull?" "I'm sorry, Orimura-sensei. It won't happen again." Ichika replied and Chifuyu let go of him. "He is out on a mission. They will be back soon."Chifuyu replied after returning to the blackboard.

The class went smoothly without any problems. Turns out, that stupid book was actually useful, because without any previous knowledge this thing was practically rocket science.

After the class ended, Ichika made his way to the dorms. "Here it is. Room 1025." He opened the door and first thing he noticed was there were two beds but unfortunately didn't hear the shower running. "Is someone out there?" a familiar girl's voice came from the bathroom and he did the most logical thing. No, he didn't join her in the shower. That's something a guy in offbrand would do.

Ichika ran out of the room. "You must be my new roommate. My name's Houki Shinonono." Houki said when she walked out the shower just before Ichika closed the door. "Who's there?"

"Let me take a guess. You are wearing nothing but a towel or your undies." Houki looked down and her face turned red like a tomato.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Houki shouted, accusingly.

"I was already outside when you got out the shower. How am I supposed to see you?" Ichika defended himself. "Then how did you know it was me and that I am wearing a towel?"

"You think I can't recognize your voice? As for your getup, that was just a guess. Besides, I have seen enough Anime to how those tropes work. Now, will you please go and get dress so that we can talk about this?" Houki hesitated but complied with Ichika nonetheless.

Ichika looked around and saw girls gathering in corridor. One of the girls walked towards him. "Is this your room, Orimura-kun?"

"Seems like it."

The door opened and Houki walked out wearing her kendo training outfit. "Aren't you going to come in?" She said while looking at the girls gathered around Ichika.

Ichika walked back in and closed the door behind him and turn to face Houki sitting on her bed.

"So you're my roommate."

"Guess so."

"Don't you know this isn't right? From the age of 7, you don't put girls and boys together." Ichika just sighed. "Go ask teacher since they are the ones with this arrangement. I think I should have a talk with Chifuyu-nee."

"So you are planning to change room?" Houki asked. "It can get awkward at times. A guy and a girl in their teens sharing a room is already a recipe for disaster." As if on cue, Mike kicked open the door holding a M4A1 Assault Rifle. "Ichika, are you alright!?" Out of instincts, Houki grabbed a wooden katana. "Wait, Mike-san? Why are you here?" Ichika asked at the sudden intrusion.

Mike lowered his gun after he analysed the situation. "Good to see that you are doing alright. Now grab your belongings. You are coming with me."

"Huh?" was the reaction from both Ichika and Houki. "You heard me. You are going to stay with Runners." Mike said, much to Houki's dismay. "Why does should he live with Runners when he is not one?" Houki protested. "Why should he live in a dorm filled with girls when he isn't one?" Mike shot back and that shut Houki up.

"But why now? Right after I moved in?" Ichika asked. "We'll talk about it on the way. For now, get your stuff. We need to get out of here ASAP." Mike said and the two left the Girl's Dorm.

A few Minutes later

"You guys call this a dorm?" after walking for 15 minutes or so, Ichika and Mike were standing in front of a build, which was less of a dorm and more of private mansion. "What were they thinking when they build this?"

"This was actually built for Valkyries and higher-ups to stay on their visit here." Mike explained. "OK, that kind of explains things."

"What are you two doing out here?" a voice came from behind. "I can ask the same to you. What were you doing this late, James?" Mike asked James as he joined the two. "That demon made me do all the paperwork for Ichika's dorm transfer. But forget that, let's get going."

A few moments later

"This is your room." James opened the door and Ichika could only look in awe. It was a large room with 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen on the far end. "Why there are 3 bedrooms?" Ichika pointed to the first thing that caught his attention. "Like I said, this building was built for Valkyries and Higher-up to stay. Since Valkyries work in a group of 3, letting them stay together helps with their coordination." Mike explained the unnecessary details. "If you ever feel lonely, you can hang-out with us." James added.

Ichika dropped his luggage and the group went out. The room was situated on the opposite end of the 'Dorm'. The three were standing in front of a room with nameplate reading 'Anti-Rain'.

Mike opened the door and the group walked in. The room was larger than Ichika's and had five bedrooms on 2nd floor (Similar to the Quint's hotel room in Quintessential Quintuplets, but without balcony). A guy with blond hair was sitting on the couch. Besides him, was a guy with dark brown hair around same age as Chifuyu, playing Mortal Kombat XI on a 70-inch plasma widescreen TV. "About time you two showed up." A guy with short light pink hair said while disassembling a Saint AR-15 Assault Rifle.

"Some things came up at the last moment so we had to attend to them." Mike replied to the guy. Mike turn to the 2 guys on couch. "Those 2 are at it again eh?" Mike asked. "You think you can handle it, Ichika?" James asked knowing how graphic MK series is. Just when he asked that the older guy used Spawn's Fatality on The Terminator, but surprisingly Ichika managed to hold it down. "I lost again" said the blond before turning to the trio. "Welcome back, you two. And who's this?" the blond asked.

"My name's Ichika Orimura, first male IS Pilot. It's nice to meet you." Ichika introduced himself and extended his right hand for a hand shake. But what he didn't expect was to see a bulky metal arm to shake his hand violently. "You are the first male IS pilot?! It's so nice to meet you. I am Simon Miller." Simon said before releasing Ichika's hand. "So you are Chifuyu's younger brother." Said the oldest man in the room. He had an eye-patch covering his right eye and a scar on the said eye, giving of an intimidating presence. "I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but after seeing you in person." the man placed a hand on Ichika's shoulder. "You look a lot more promising than those girls who call themselves 'IS Pilots'." He finished in friendly tone and gave Ichika a big smile and a thumbs-up.

"My name's Michael Anthony. And that's Aaron Reynolds." Michael said, pointing to the guy with AR-15. "I'll get something for everyone to drink. You can go and play with them." James said and went to kitchen.

Ichika joined the duo playing MK XI and Mike went to sit besides Aaron. "You wanna try?" Michael suggested, handing Ichika his controller.

30 minutes later

"I am done." Simon said and handed Michael his controller. Turns out Ichika beat him with 8:2 with just button mashing. Even Mike and Aaron came to see the beat down Simon was getting. "Is this what people call 'Beginner's Luck'?" Aaron asked. "I don't know. I used to play fighting games with Dan but they weren't as brutal as this." Ichika admitted. "Forget about that, there is something that I am sure will impress you." James said and took the controller from Michael and changed the game.

The screen turned dark and a metal arm faded in. The virtual camera slowly went up to show a guy with short silver hair wearing a blue jacket. The camera zooms out and a large sword can be seen on his back before the games title was announced. "Devil May Cry" upon hearing that, Simon, who was sulking behind the couch, jumped back onto the couch. Ichika immediately recognized that Simon's arm was the same as the one from the game.

Mike cut him off before he can say anything. "It's the same as the one from the game." Mike said and Aaron just left, losing his interest in the topic. The group went and show Ichika all the Breakers they were able to recreate and telling how it all worked.

An hour later, Ichika went back to his room. Simon went back to playing some R6S. Michael left earlier saying he's going to a drinking party. Mike was listening to some music with his headphones on. Aaron was locked up in his room. James on the other hand was alone at the fountain, fiddling on his phone. Finally deciding to make the call, he dialed a number on his phone.

After ringing a few times, the call finally connected. "Hello?" a monotone yet feminine voice answered from the other end.

"It's me. He reached St. Freya safely this morning. No actions from Overseer so far." James reported to the girl/woman. "That's strange. Even after a month, Otto isn't trying to get to him?" there was a brief pause, then girl/woman continued. "We'll just have to wait and see what Otto is planning first. After that we'll decide what to do. Till then, be careful." The girl/woman said before call was ended. James pocketed his phone and went back to his room.

Next morning, Ichika went to cafeteria to grab himself some breakfast. Ichika saw Houki sharing her seat with a group of girls, very familiar girls. "Long time no see." Ichika greeted the girls. "Good morning, Orimura-san." Raiden Mei greeted Ichika and he joined the group. "How do you know each other?" Houki asked as she had no idea about how they met. "We met while running from Honkai Beasts and zombies in Tokyo." Houki's eyes widened.

"You 3 are survivors of that Honkai Outbreak as well?!" Houki said in disbelieve. "You are overreacting, Shinonono-san." Mei said. "We can talk about that later. You guys should focus on eating right now." Houki settled down and continued eating her meal.

"So how do you two know each other?" Ichika asked Mei. "I go to Kendo club for practice and occasional sparing with Shinonono-san." Mei replied. "I also asked Orimura-Sensei to teach me how to properly use a sword."

After a 10 lap threat from Chifuyu, everyone quickly finished their meal and run for their respective homeroom. "We should be going as well. Have a great day." Mei said before she and the group left.

Bell rang and oddly enough James was the only one to enter. "Good morning, everyone. I know it's boring but we are starting the day with a History lesson." Disapproving groans were heard throughout the class. "Now calm down, you all. I know how boring History is. But you all are future warriors to fight against Honkai. Therefore you must know what kind of opponents you all will be facing." The class settled down a bit and James continued. "We'll start off with basics."

James tapped the electronic blackboard and pictures of different Honkai Beasts popped up on the screen. "Most people think that Beast we see is the Honkai, and they are right but not completely." Screen changed to pictures of many natural disasters and diseases. "Honkai can manifest in many forms like disasters and diseases. 'The Great Plague' from 1470 was claimed to be caused by Honkai. I'll save you the disgusting details." The screen changed to an old picture of destroyed Berlin.

"In 1952, the 1st Honkai Eruption took place in Berlin and wiped-out entire Berlin. It also gave birth to the 1st Herrscher." Screen showed a picture of a young man with short black hair. "Moving on. Next Honkai Eruption took place in year 2000, in Siberia. To stop the Herrscher, Schicksal mobilized every Valkyrie from B rank and above. That battle is also known as 2nd Honkai War." James swiped away all the pictures and turned to the class. "I think that's a good place to stop for now, since we don't have much time. Let's talk about Honkai Beasts and their classification."

The class went on for half an hour before the bell rang and James left. Ichika was getting ready for the next class when he heard a voice calling him. "May I have a moment?" Ichika turned around to see a blond girl with her hair in drills standing next to him. "Huh?" that escaped faster than he could analyze the situation.

"What kind of response was that? You should feel honoured that you're talking to me. I hope you'll improve on your attitude." She said in a high tone. Ichika tilted his head, missing the point. "Look, first of all, you are the one who came to talk to me so you should mind your manners instead. Second, I was distracted so I didn't catch what you said. And lastly, who are you?" at that last part, the blond became infuriated.

"I'm Cecilia Alcott. England's representative candidate. Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be in the same class as me." Cecilia proudly stated much to Ichika's annoyance. "I am the only male who can pilot an IS. Younger brother to world's best IS pilot to date. And I am on an artificial island with 95% female population. I think I have plenty of reason to feel lucky." Ichika said with devilish smirk. Before Cecilia could say something, the bell rang and everyone went back to their seats.

Ichika wasn't paying much attention to the class since he already had it covered. Until James walked in and announced they would have to choose a class representative.

"I would like to nominate Orimura." First girl picked on.

"I do as well."

"Can I refuse?" Ichika asked and James gave him a smile that gave Ichika some hope. "Once chosen, you are not allowed to stand down." And with that, Ichika fell into despair. "No one else wants to nominate themselves or others?" James asked.

"I can't allow this." Cecilia stood up. "This type of selection is unacceptable. Just nominating him because he is a rare breed. Do you expect me, Cecilia Alcott, to live under the leadership of this monkey for an entire year? I came here to learn about Infinite Stratos, not to join a circus. It should be I, Cecilia Alcott, to be the class representative. After all, I am the only one who defeated an instructor."

James was already familiar with this kind of things. Women with the whole female superiority complex are the worse to deal with.

"In the first place, living in such a country with an underdeveloped level of culture is extremely painful for a woman of my stature." James was about to calm Cecilia down but he was too late.

"Isn't Britain an island either? How many times have you guys won the world's worst cuisine awards?" Ichika had mouthed her off and it was enough for her as well.

"Are you insulting my country?"

"I am just returning the favor." Ichika replied. "That's enough, the two of you." James said as he tried to stop the glaring contest. "If you want you can fight it out in an IS battle."

"Fine by me." Both said in unison. "How much of a handicap do you need?" Ichika asked and the class erupted in laughter.

"Orimura-kun, you're so funny." One girl said laughing

"Yeah, everyone knows that men are weaker than women. It is a common factor." Another girl added.

Chifuyu and Maya flinched slightly at that before turning to James, who had an annoyed expression on his face that clearly said, "Am I a joke to you?" Nevermind, he said it.

Once he got everyone's attention, James continued. "There are some countries where gender rules are same as they were before the IS came to existence. For example, Belgium. And if I remember correctly, I never lost to an IS pilot. As for the whole men are weak concept, if you don't have a personal IS you can never outclass a man in a fight. Unless you are a female wrestler." Everyone shuddered from imagining how they will look if they were a wrestler.

"Your match will be on Monday in Arena 3." Chifuyu said. "Orimura, you will be using your personal IS. It should arrive on Monday you'll have to wait until then." Everyone started gossiping about it.

'A personal IS, huh?' James thought. 'What are you up to, Otto?' the suspicious look on his face changed instantly to his normal carefree smile. "We can discuss that some other time. For now, please take your seats. I am going to take the class." James said and everyone went back to their seats.

After the classes ended, Ichika was in his room taking shower after a long and troublesome day. When he got out of the shower he heard a knock on the door. Ichika opened the door and saw James standing in his usual attire.

"Ichika, are you busy right now?" James asked and Ichika shook his head. "No, not at all. Is there something you need me for?" Ichika asked.

"Get dressed and come to our room. I got something to discuss with you." James said and he left.

* * *

**I think that's a good place to end it for now. I was planning to put this up in first week of April but things happened and I kinda forgot about this. I had to cut and add some of the pieces from my original plan but it's still pretty much the same. As always, thanks for giving your time to this short story with no future(as of now) a chance and I'll see you all next time(if you guys still decided to hang around till then).**

**I think I have given plenty of hints already. Let's see if anyone can guess who Runners actually are.**


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